HC Deb 31 October 1955 vol 545 cc78-9W
123. Mr. de Freitas

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he is aware that there is at present neither adequate water nor enough auxiliary firemen to make the fire service an effective fire-fighting force against even conventional attack on the scale of the last war; and what action he is taking.

Major Lloyd-George

I am aware that much remains to be done. The manpower and water requirements of the wartime fire service are under consideration as part of the general review of civil defence in the light of the hydrogen bomb. In the meantime, however, excellent progress has been made during recent months in implementing the scheme for the training of R.A.F. class H reservists in firefighting, which was outlined in paragraph 113 of the Statement on Defence, 1955 (Cmd. 9391), and as a result a substantial improvement in the trained manpower available to the Fire Service in war is already in prospect.